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towards women. Overall though, this is an intelligent, beautifully performed meditation on loneliness, anger and hope, a consistent delight to watch. James Skinner
UNCOVERED: THE WAR ON IRAQ Harold and Kumar prepare to play the “Catch the Fish” game
HAROLD AND KUMAR GET THE MUNCHIES
Dir: Danny Leiner Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn rom the incredibly stupid and purile mind of Dude, Where’s My Car? comes the first ever multiracial dope fast-food road movie. Leiner’s previous efforts have been damaged by a heady reliance on the gross-out gag. With Harold and Kumar Leiner has concocted a fresh and spine-snappingly funny movie worthy of the greatest guffaw. Harold and Kumar are two ethnic minority college boys: one uptight Asian-American; one relaxed and groovy Indian-American. Upon smoking some dope they develop a desperate desire for a particular fast-food delicacy. In their midnight quest for satience they encounter a nymphomaniac Korean collective, an inbred Southern Hick and his sexually voracious wife, and a womanizing Neil Patrick Harris, aka Doogie Howser M.D, in a hilarious pilgrimage of joy. More serious is the multicultural subtext about stereotyping (Asians are nerdy number crunchers and Indians overachieving medics). Ultimately it's pop-cult fun at our own expense. In the canon of stoner comedies this is at the top of the food chain. Craig Driver
F
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE
Dir: Jonathan Demme Cast: Denzel Washington,Liev Schreiber magine a world where one massive company has the ability to force change, influence governments, and fix elections. This is the world that US Army Major Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington) lives in. During the preliminary days of Desert Storm, his unit was ambushed and duly saved by Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev
I
Schreiber). Cut to the present day and Shaw is a US Congressman and Marco is trying to discover the truth about a dream that tells him that his memories of the events nearly 15 years earlier aren’t quite accurate. All the evidence points to a large conspiracy, but how far does it go? Denzel Washington delivers a stunning performance portraying the unease of a man who can trust no one and is entirely unsure of his own sanity. Schreiber’s enigmatic and disconnected characterisation of Shaw is yet another example of his true ability. While Meryl Streep delivers a performance both scheming and ruthless. The Manchurian Candidate will please fans of political thrillers, and conspiracy theory type films. A confident and assured remake. Elgan Iorwerth
SIDEWAYS
Dir: Alexander Payne Cast: Paul Giammati he latest film from About Schmidt director Alexander Payne tells the story of Miles Raymond, a recently divorced failed writer and Jack, his best friend from college, who is about to be married. Miles, a devout wine connoisseur, is taking the two of them on a weeklong break in California before the wedding. Whereas Miles is looking to relax among the vineyards and golf courses. Jack is itching for one last fling as a bachelor, which results in a host of complications. Adapted from the semi autobiographical novel by Rex Pickett, this is an absolute gem of a movie, held together by the excellent performances of the leads. Paul Giamatti of indie hit American Splendour injects a likeability into the glum Miles few other actors could realistically convey. Thomas Haden Church also excels as the charismatic Jack, who we end up liking despite his somewhat objectionable attitudes
T
Dir: Robert Greenwald he Director who compiled the fantastic Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War On Journalism returns with an intelligent and deeply articulate investigation into the War on Iraq. This documentary may arrive admist a gluttony of counter-establishment releases but it’s insistence upon plain and logical truth rather than polemical posturing raises it above the parapit of commerciality. Here, spelt out coherently and calmly is the truth about The War on Iraq. This is illustrated through archive footage of the primary instigators Bush, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, as well as interviews with political and social figures, both current and ex-establishment, keen to dispel the plague-like myth of America’s insitence upon a foreign evil in the Middle East. An essential film that expertly summarises the belief that, as one interviewee states, the American nation is in the midst of a “historical and political lobotomy.” Craig Driver
T
A vital and sobering film